San Antonio Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Measure to Legalize Abortions | Life News

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By: Micaiah Bilger

The proposed ordinance, Proposition A, came from pro-abortion groups and basically would have legalized the killing of unborn babies in abortions in San Antonio.

However, the ballot measure failed by a huge margin Saturday with 72 percent of voters opposed, according to the Texas Tribune.

Amy O’Donnell, communications director at Texas Alliance for Life, celebrated the victory after her organization spent months working to defeat the proposal.

“We are tremendously pleased to see that San Antonio voters have defeated Prop A so decisively,” O’Donnell said. “Prop A would have been tragic for unborn children and victims of trafficking who would have been left without the protection from abortion they deserve by San Antonio police.”

No exceptions coming for Texas abortion ban, both parties say | KXAN

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By: Ryan Chandler

On Monday, however, Texas Alliance for Life said there is no need to change the law to accomplish that.

“Our laws are very clear,” Amy O’Donnell with the Alliance for Life said. “We have heard stories of doctors who say they need further clarification. And we believe that that clarification should come in the same way that it comes for doctors regarding other legislative laws that have passed that affect their practice, and that’s through the various boards that provide that clarification for them, as well as for nurses and for pharmacists. The laws do not need to be changed.”

Texas Supreme Court rejects anti-abortion group’s Justice Charter challenge | San Antonio Express News

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By: Molly Smith

“This precedent invites municipalities to disregard well-established election laws regarding charter amendments, protections for unborn babies, and numerous other issues, an unintended but foreseeable consequence,” Texas Alliance for Life spokesperson Amy O’Donnell said in a written statement.

If approved, the Justice Charter, which will appear on the ballot as Proposition A, would amend the city charter to bar police from investigating or making arrests for abortion-related crimes and misdemeanor marijuana possession. It would also expand the city’s cite-and-release program, ban police from using chokeholds and no-knock warrants, and create a city justice director to oversee these policy changes.

City Attorney Andy Segovia, however, maintains that San Antonio could only enforce the justice director provision, calling the others “inconsistent” with state law.

Walgreens speaks after being told there’s consequences for selling abortion pills by mail |News4SA

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By: Amanda Henderson

Walgreens’ decision further limits women’s abortions options in Texas.

It’s the news some are celebrating.

“We’re grateful to see that work having an effect where life is protected,” Amy O’Donnell with Texas Alliance for Life said.

Walgreens said they are not distributing mifepristone at this time.

“In Texas now that life is protected from conception on, it’s not legal for these drugs to be dispensed, either through Walgreens or through a physician for the purpose of a woman obtaining an abortion. We want to see women protected even as we work towards protecting babies,” O’Donnell said.

The letter was also sent to rival drug store chain CVS who has not yet responded.

3 abortion bans in Texas leave doctors ‘talking in code’ to pregnant patients | Texas Public Radio

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By: Selena Simmons-Duffin

Still, these laws are not as sweeping as some seem to think, law professor Sepper says, and none should apply in Miller’s case.

“First, all of them exempt the pregnant person,” Sepper explains. “Second, none of them apply outside the borders of Texas, so abortions performed in Colorado or California are not covered.”

Amy O’Donnell of Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion rights group, concurs with Sepper’s interpretation of the law. “Our Texas Alliance for Life attorneys believe there is a constitutional right to interstate travel,” she says. “They believe that Texas will not be able to ban interstate travel for abortion, just as we cannot ban individuals from traveling to another state to participate in casino gambling, which is not legal in Texas.”

Why anti-abortion opponents could sink San Antonio’s police reform amendment | San Antonio Express News

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By: Molly Smith

Texas Alliance for Life immediately took the matter to the Texas Supreme Court. The group has a powerful ally in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is urging the court to side with them.

It’s a large departure from the scrutiny given to marijuana decriminalization measures passed in other Texas cities, none of which are anywhere close to landing in front of a state court. These measures have proved popular, passing by as much as 85 percent.

“On the abortion question, this is a direct frontal assault to a primary political objective that Republicans have laid out,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. “It is as bold a political strategy to confront a Republican, conservative policy on abortion as we’ve seen.”

On ExpressNews.com: Anti-abortion group wants to weed out this measure in San Antonio’s Justice Charter amendment

The Justice Charter, also known as Proposition A, is the first citizen-led ballot measure in Texas to attempt to safeguard abortion providers since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion protections last summer. It will be a test of the lengths the state’s powerful anti-abortion movement — and possibly Republican lawmakers — will go to prevent cities from making their own rules about abortion.